Ridge to Rivers opens new trail in the Foothills

Ridge to Rivers announced on Oct. 9 it has opened the new Highlands Trail #1 that links Corrals Trail to Bob’s Trail. The trail leaves Corrals to the south, approximately 1/4-mile from the Corrals pull-out trail access, and ends at the Bob’s Trailhead at the end of Hearthstone Drive.

There are a number of short sections that still require work, Ridge to Rivers officials said, so mountain bikers should watch for those, but hikers won’t have a problem with them. Ridge to Rivers crews will be working on those sections, as well as fine-tuning the Corrals side over the next month where the trail needs widening in several locations.

The new trail was created to make a legal route between Bob’s and Corrals and keep people off of property owned and posted by The Highlands. The Highlands donated funding for construction of this trail. As part of the project, Ridge to Rivers is closing and revegetating a handful of extraneous routes that are unsustainable and no longer needed. The agency is asking trail users to respect the closures by staying on the Highlands Trail, which will improve the overall health of the Foothills and curtail erosion and visual scarring.

“Thank you to all who patiently waited for this trail to be constructed, then waited for us to receive enough moisture to allow the new trail tread to pack down sufficiently,” Ridge to Rivers officials said on its Facebook page.